Warranty Years ISE 200

Warranty Years WF 200

Price £ RRP ISE 200

Price £ RRP WF200

Insinkerator Evolution 200 Review

Insinkerator continue to dominate the UK market for waste disposers with their inferior products. This is due to strong marketing over many years, their grip on the electrical distribution chain (all the big distributors only stock ISE and won’t take any other brand) and no real challenge to their position for many years. In many countries other brands have overtaken them like Waste King in the USA at the top end and the cheap and nasty brands at the bottom end like Waste Maid.

However, to use a car analogy they have been selling a Fiat Panda for a BMW price tag for far too long. The market leader must be the best product out there mustn’t it? Wrong! Blackberry and Nokia have proven the fallacy of that argument – once mighty names that are now little more than history. It is now time to bust their marketing myth wide open and reveal just how poor a product their disposers really are. Here are their key selling features debunked:

“Premium technology for everyone” – a bold claim backed up by what exactly? If this is true then why aren’t their units more reliable as they only back them with a 6 year guarantee compared to Waste Force’s 10 year warranty. And if their technology is so good why do the units perform so badly in terms of jamming and the limited range of food waste that can be put into them?

“60% quieter than standard models” – why are their standard models so noisy? Any disposer will have sound insulation but is it taken from the aerospace industry and are their armatures and turntables balanced to reduce noise and vibration?

“Three stages of grinding – grinds all food waste for the finest grind” – If the grinder did a proper job then it would do it in one stage and not three adding unnecessary complexity and space to the operation resulting in worse reliability.

“Built-in air switch (in polished chrome or brushed steel) accessory for easy installation and added convenience” – agreed this is a good idea and any decent disposer should have one which is why we have them.

“Power booster circuit with micro-processor increases torque to tackle the most difficult to grind foods” – this is complete voodoo nonsense. Just think about it. Why would you need to increase the toque unless it was inadequate in the first place? To add unreliable sophisticated electronics to something like a waste disposer that is vibrating so much is a very bad idea, as it won’t last long before it is shaken into bits!

“Stainless steel grind chamber (1180ml) and stainless steel superior grinding elements handle all waste” – all decent disposers use stainless steel grind rings but the important question to ask is “are their impellers cast stainless steel which are much stronger or just stamped?”. Presumably the later otherwise it would be listed as a feature.

“Stainless steel strainer basket and plug” – this is trivial, will it make any difference to it’s performance and reliability? Absolutely not!

“Auto-reverse action for extended product life and trouble free operation” – It only needs to reverse because it regularly gets jammed, especially with certain types of food waste. Why does it get jammed? Because of the relatively low operating torque that the unit produces (about 1/4 of Waste Force’s torque) and no startup burst of torque (which is more than 9 times in waste Force). In fact the opposite occurs due to the use of induction magnets which delays the start of the operating grinding power.

“6 year parts and labour guarantee” – Why is this so short for such an expensive “premium” unit? Why not 10 years or even lifetime like Waste King provides? Probably to ensure that they have plenty of repeat business due to obsolescence. Such guarantees require you to take them out and return them to the manufacturer at your cost. Better to get a product that just does what is is supposed to rather than breaking down and requiring time, money and effort to repair it.

“0.75hp” – All family sized disposers are rated at this power consumption. The question is how much of this gets turned into useful grinding power at the coal face, ie when the food meets the impellers? In ISE’s case not very much which is why they have a reputation for jamming so much.

“Compact unit” – These units are much larger than competitor’s units. The diameter is 234 mm compared to the WF-100 which is just 121 mm at its widest point ie half the width!

Now go and consider all of the many extra features and benefits that a Waste Force unit will give you that the Evolution 100 and 200 units don’t and compare the prices. Most annoying is the frequent need to clear jams (documented on many review sites) which never happens on Waste Force units due to their more robust and better design. Waste Force doesn’t come with a jam wrench as it never needs one unlike all of ISE’s waste disposers! Finally, if this wasn’t enough to convince you then consider the prices. The RRP of £555 for the ISE Evolution 200 is almost double the Waste Force WF-300 unit’s price, but hey it’s a free World so waste your money if you want to.

Look at the graphics below to illustrate just what these numbers mean. That’s why we stand by our claim to be the best value food waste disposer on the market. It’s a no-brainer choice now – Stand aside ISE Evolution as Waste Force has arrived. It is time for a Darwinian “survival of the fittest” in a direct head-to-head!